Type cylinder



B. HOWARD TYPE CYLINDER Feb. 16, 1965 Filed June 4, 1965 INVENTOR. Ire/v40 lmwtp Ava/61x5):

United States Patent 3,169,474 TYPE CYLINDER Bernard Howard, Upper Saddle River, N..I., assignor to Mite Corporation, New Haven, Conn., a corporation of Delaware Filed June 4, 1963, Ser. No. 285,441 9 Claims. (Cl. 101-110) This invention relates to type cylinders for printers, and more particularly to a type cylinder with movable type, intended especially for printing on a thick body.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a generally improved cylindrical type body. Such a body is moved axially and rotatably for character selection, and usually a hammer hits the paper against the selected type. This practice is not feasible when printing on a stiff cardboard or a thick body, for example a savings bank passbook. One general object of the invention is to provide a type cylinder for that purpose, and with this general object in view, the type cylinder is made up of a series of slices or rings, each of which is one character wide. The hamme r hits and displaces one ring relative to the others.

A more specific object is to provide such a type cylinder in which the displacement of a ring does not similarly dis place the adjacent rings. Another object is to so relate the hammer and ring that the hammer serves to itself improve the orientation and positioning of the ring for accurate location of the printed character. Still another object is to provide such a cylinder which is inexpensive to construct and light in weight, the latter being important for high speed operation.

T o accomplish the foregoing objects, and other more specific objects which will hereinafter appear, my invention resides in the type cylinder and hammer elements, and their relation one to another, as are here more particularly described in the following specification. The specification is accompanied by drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective View explanatory of the construction and method of use of my improved type cylinder, the rings being separated to better show some features;

IG. 2 is a section taken approximately in the plane of the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a similar view, but with the cylinder turned 90 from the position shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation of the type cylinder; and

FIG. 5 is a section taken on the line 55 of FIG. 4.

Referring to the drawing, and more particularly to FIG. 4, the type cylinder generally designated 12 comprises a series of slices or rings 14, 16, 18, each being one character wide. These rings surround and are yieldably carried by an elongated hub or sleeve 20, which is itself axially slidable on and rotatable with a suitably splined or noncircular shaft 22. 7

Referring now to FIG. 1, the hammer comprises a hammer arm 24 carrying a hammer head 26, and when this strikes one of the rings, in this case ring 28, it displaces it radially relative to the sleeve 20 and toward a suitable inked ribbon and the surface being printed. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the body being printed may be stiff or thick, as indicated at 30. The inked ribbon between the type cylinder 21 and the body 30 is indicated at 32.

As seen in the drawing, the type cylinder is built up of a series of rings, each one character wide, with a sleeve passing through the rings, the sleeve being substantially smaller in diameter than the inside of the rings in order to afford room for radial displacement of any ring relative to the others. The sleeve has aligned spiders 34 and 36 fixed at its ends, and there are helical tension springs 38 and 40 of small diameter stretched between the arms of the spiders, and passing inside the rings to support the same. In passing, it may be mentioned that the term "ice spiders is not intended to exclude the use of circular discs, the spider shape being preferred merely tohelp minimize the weight of the type cylinder.

In preferred form the rings are flat faced as shown, so that they rest slidably in face-to-face relation. The sleeve 20 is preferablysubstantially longer than the assembly of rings, as shown in FIG. 4, so that there will be no undue resistance to lateral movement of the endmost rings. The sleeve 20 is preferably provided with end plates 42 which are fixedon the sleeve just outside the end rings, in order to hold the rings against axial movement relative to the sleeve. 'In the particular case here shown the spiders have four arms each, and there are four support springs, two springs 38' being diametrically related, and two springs 40 being located around the cylinder from the springs 38.

Referring to FIG. 5, the end plates 42 are large enough in radius to bear against the outer faces of the rings in order to support the same, but they are preferably cut away generously around the springs 38 and 40 in order not to interfere with lateral movement of the springs, as when an end ring is being used. In the particular form shown in FIG. 5 this results in a somewhat cruciform configuration for the end plate 42.

In FIG. '5 it may be observed that each ring has two diametrically opposed radial slots 44 and 46 receiving two of the springs. The ring is cut away to provide clearance around the other springs, as shown at 48 and 54). Although the rings are all alike in this regard, they are oriented differently. Alternate rings are oriented as shown in FIG. 5, and the intermediate rings are oriented 90 away from the alternate rings. More specifically, the alternate rings receive the springs 38 in their slots, and the intermediate rings receive the springs 40 in their slots.

The advantage of this construction may be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawing. In FIG. 2 a ring 28 has been displaced radially by hammer 26 toward ribbon 32 and book 30, The right hand spring 40 is not displaced, and the displacementof the left hand spring 40 is reduced because of the initial clearance at 48 around the spring. The top and bottom springs 38 are displaced, but the immediately adjacent ring, such as the ring 52, is displaced little if at all, because of the clearance at 48' and 50 around the springs 38, it being kept in mind that if the slots 44 and 46 of ring 28 are at the top and bottom, then the corresponding slots 44' and 46' of ring 52 are at the left and right.

When the type cylinder has been turned 90 the situation is that illustrated in FIG. 3. The slot 44 does not move the right hand spring 38, but the slot is long enough so that the spring still supports the ring. The slot 46 moves the left hand spring 38 toward the right, but any accompanying motion of the adjacent rings, such as the ring 52,'is minimized because of the clearance at 48'. The top and bottom springs 40 are moved little if at all, because of the clearance at 48 and 50 of the ring 28.

Thus the present arrangement affords a substantial radial displacement of any ring for printing purposes, which little or no displacement of the other rings, so that there is no printing of additional ghost characters.

The rings preferably have sloping or angularly disposed faces 54 between characters. The hammer head 26 is matingly shaped, it having angular faces at 56 (FIG. 1). The hammer is cut away at 58 to clear the adjacent character. It will be evident from examination of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawing that with this construction the hammer itself helps correct the orientation of the ring being used, and helps fix its position, so that the printed characters arelocated in accurate alignment. The type cylinder alone provides an approximate orientation. The rotation of the rings with the sleeve 20 is assured by the provision of the slots 44 and 46 previously referred to, and any slight inaccuracy is corrected at the moment of impact, by the hammer action itself.

It is believed that the construction and method of use of my improved type cylinder and its associated hammer, as well as the advantages thereof, will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description. It will also be apparent that while I have shown and described the invention in a preferred form, changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention, as sought to be defined in the following claims.

I claim: 7 e a l. A type cylinder comprising a series of rings each one'character wide, a sleeve passing through said rings, said sleeve being substantially smaller in diameter than the inside of the rings in order to afford room for radial displacement of any ring relative to the others, said sleeve having an aligned spider fixed at each of its ends, and helical tension springs of small diameter stretched, between the arms of the spiders and passing inside the rings to support the same.

2. A type cylinder comprising a series of fiat-faced rings each one character wide, a sleeve passing through said rings for splined sliding movement on a type cylinder shaft, said sleeve being substantially smaller in diameter than the inside of the rings in order to afford room for radial displacement of any ring relative to the others, said sleeve being substantially longer than the assembly of rings and having an aligned spider fixed at each of its ends, helical tension springs of small diameter stretched between the arms of the spiders and passing inside the rings to support the same, and end plates fixed on said sleeve just outside the end rings to hold the rings against axial movement relative to the sleeve.

3. A type cylinder comprising a series of flat-faced rings each one character wide, a sleeve passing through said rings for splined sliding movement on a type cylinder shaft, said sleeve being substantially smaller in diameter than the inside of the rings in order to afford room for radial displacement of any ning relative to the others, said sleeve being substantially longer than the assembly of rings and having an aligned spider fixed at each of its ends, each of said spiders having four arms, four helical tension springs of small diameter stretched between the arms of the spiders and passing inside the rings to support the same, and end plates fixed on said sleeve just outside the end rings to hold the rings against axial movement relative to the sleeve.

4. A type cylinder comprising a series of rings each one character wide, a sleeve passing through said rings, said sleeve being substantially smaller in diameter than the inside of the rings in order to afford room for radial displacement of any ring relative to the others, said sleeve having an aligned spider fixed at each of its ends, helical tension springs of small diameter stretched between the arms of the spiders and passing inside the just outside the end rings to hold the rings against axial movement relative to the sleeve, each ring having two diametrically opposed radial slots receiving two of the springs to insure rotation of the rings with the sleeve and springs, each ring being cut away to provide clearance around the other springs, alternate rings being oriented alike and the intermediate rings being oriented 90 away rings to support the same, each ring having two diametrically opposed radial slots receiving two of the springs, each ring being cut away to provide clearance around the other springs, alternate rings being oriented alike and the intermediate rings being oriented 90 away from the alternate rings, whereby when a ring is radially displaced to print a character any accompanying movement of the adjacent rings is minimized.

5. A type cylinder comprising a series of flat-faced rings each one character wide, a sleeve passing through said rings for splined sliding movement on a type cylinder shaft, said sleeve being substantially smaller in diameter than the inside of the rings in order to afiord room for radial displacement of any ring relative to the others, said sleeve being substantially longer than the assembly of rings and having an aligned spider fixed at each of its ends, helical tension springs of small diameter stretched between the arms of the spiders and passing inside the rings to support the same, end plates fixed on said sleeve from thealterriate rings, whereby when a ring is radially displaced to print a character any accompanying movement of the adjacent rings is minimized. v

6. A type cylinder comprising a series of fiat-faced rings each one character wide, a sleeve passing through said rings for splined sliding movement on a type cylinder shaft, said sleeve being substantially smaller in diameter than the inside of the rings in order to afford room' for radial displacement of any ring relative to the others, said sleeve being substantially longer than the assembly of rings and having an aligned spider fixed at each of its ends, each of said spiders having four arms, four helical tension springs of small diameter stretched between the arms of the spiders and passing inside the rings to support the same, end plates fixed on said sleeve just outside the end rings to hold the rings against axial movement relative to the sleeve, each ring having two diametrically opposed radial slots receiving two of the springs, each ring being cut away to provide clearance around the other two springs, alternate rings being oriented alike, and the intermediate rings being oriented away from the alternate rings, whereby when a ring is radially displaced to printa character any accompanying movement of the adjacent rings is minimized.

7. In combination, a type cylinder and a print hammer, said type cylinder comprising a series of rings each one character Wide, a sleeve passing through said rings, said sleeve being substantially smaller in diameter than the inside of the rings in order to afford room for radial displacement of any ring relative to the others, said sleeve having an aligned spider fixed at each of its ends, helical tension springs of small diameter stretched between the arms of the spiders and passing inside the rings to support the same, the outside periphery of said rings having angularly disposed surfaces between characters, and said print hammer including a hammer head having mating angularly disposed surfaces shaped to straddle a character and to bear against two of the angularly disposed surfaces of the ring being displaced, whereby the hammer helps fix the orientation and location of the ring for its printing action.

8. In combination, a type cylinder and a print hammer, said type cylinder comprising a series of fiat-faced rings each one character wide, a sleeve passing through said rings for splined sliding movement on a type cylinder shaft, said sleeve being substantially smaller in diameter than the inside of the rings in order to afford room for radial displacement of any ring relative to the others, said sleeve being substantially longer than the assembly of rings and having an aligned spider fixed at each of its ends, helical tension springs of small diameter stretched between the arms of the spiders and passing inside the rings to support the same, end plates fixed on said sleeve just outside the end rings, the outside periphery of said rings having angularly disposed surfaces between characters, and said print hammer including a hammer head having mating angularly disposed surfaces shaped to straddle a character and to bear against the adjacent angularly disposed surfaces of the ring being displaced, whereby the hammer helps fix the orientation and location of the ring for its printing action.

9. In combination, a type cylinder and a print hammer, said type cylinder comprising a series of fiat-faced rings each one character wide and four characters around, a sleeve passing through said rings for splined sliding movement on a type cylinder shaft, said sleeve being substantially smaller in diameter than the inside of the rings in order to afford room for radial displacement of any ring relative to the others, said sleeve being substan tially longer than the assembly of rings and having an aligned spider fixed at each of its ends, each of said spiders having four arms, four helical tension springs of small diameter stretched between the arms of the spiders and passing inside the rings to support the same, end plates fixed on said sleeve just outside the end rings, the outside periphery of said rings having four angularly disposed surfaces between the four characters, and said print hammer including a hammer head having two mating angularly disposed Surfaces shaped to straddle a character 10 and to bear against the adjacent angularly disposed sur- 6 faces of the ring being' displaced, whereby the hammer helps in; the orientation and location of the ring for its printing action.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNETED STATES PATENTS 1,617,876 Swanson Feb. 15, 1927 2,085,323 Leash June 29, 1937 2,951,439 Stutz et a1 Sept. 6, 1960 

1. A TYPE CLYINDER COMPRISING A SERIES OF RINGS EACH ONE CHARACTER WIDE, A SLEEVE PASSING THROUGH SAID RINGS, SAID SLEEVE BEING SUBSTANTIALLY SMALLER IN DIAMETER THAN THE INSIDE OF THE RINGS IN ORDER TO AFFORD ROOM FOR RADIAL DISPLACEMENT OF ANY RING RELATIVE TO THE OTHERS, SAID SLEEVE HAVING AN ALIGNED SPIDER FIXED AT EACH OF ITS ENDS, AND HELICAL TENSION SPRINGS OF SMALL DIAMETER STRETCHED BETWEEN THE ARMS OF THE SPIDERS AND PASSING INSIDE THE RINGS TO SUPPORT THE SAME. 